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Reddit"I will not vote for or support any candidate for Congress or President who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war of aggression, a public position in his or her campaign."
This is the pledge signed by over 18,000 people in the Give Peace a Vote drive organized by CodePink. It is the same pledge signed by approximately 80,000 other voters as part of the Voters for Peace campaign which includes Gold Star Families for Peace, Peace Action, Global Exchange, United for Peace and Justice (a coalition of 1,400 local groups in itself), CodePink and others.
Before the Iraq War, CodePink (whose name plays on the Bush administration's threat level system) was known as an international, women-initiated social justice movement creatively calling attention to many of our most pressing issues – "making the color pink synonymous with political rabble rousing," said co-founder, Jodie Evans.
Direct actions included hanging 40-foot pink banners with slogans like Stop Selling War out hotel windows; handing out pink educational flyers at pink lemonade stands; and awarding pink slips to political and corporate leaders who were leading our nation towards war. Members yelled out questions during Donald Rumsfeld's testimony in Congress regarding torture at Abu Ghraib; chained themselves to the entrance of the Halliburton's shareholders meeting; and brought US military families to Iraq where they met Iraqi victims of the war and occupation.
Now CodePink is focused on sending a message to politicians at the voting booth.
"With these pledge forms, I am finding an enthusiasm to end the war that I haven't seen in the past," Evans said. "Give Peace a Vote is going to give visibility to the emerging peace voting bloc so that the politicians can't keep ignoring the will of the voters to end the war in Iraq."
Well known peacemakers--including Samuel Jackson, musicians Jackson Browne, and Steve Earle, Angelica Huston, Susan Sarandon, Sandra Oh, Mike Farrell, Ed Asner, Paul Haggis, Julia-Louise Dreyfuss, Cornel West, writers Alice Walker, Maxine Hong Kingston and Gore Vidal, among others--are doing their part to draw attention to the effort. Yoko Ono also signed onto the pledge that is named after John Lennon's peace anthem, Give Peace a Chance.
As we approach Election Day, let the candidates know you are serious about putting an end to the Iraq War by signing the pledge. Give Peace a Vote – we'll all be tickled pink when the warmongers are thrown out and the peace candidates prevail.
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Katrina vanden Heuvel
Thoughts on politics, current affairs, riffs and reflections on what’s in the news and what’s not--but should be.
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those are my girls--medea is a righteous babe!
Posted by darladoon at 10/11/2006 @ 3:18pm
So the New York "Code-Pinkers" are going to vote for who....for U.S. Senate?
Posted by Mask at 10/11/2006 @ 3:28pm
And wasn't Ned Lamont on "Hardball" just recently, where he said he WOULD consider "military options" where it came to Iran?
(to quickly back-down from that statement, when Matthews pressed him on it!)
So...that cuts out the "Pinkies" from Connecticutt...unless they're voting for Schlesinger!
Posted by Mask at 10/11/2006 @ 3:30pm
or how about when diane wilson scaled down an oil tanker with a HUGE banner.....? that was soooooo cool! diane, media, all of them....amazing women, total rabble rousers! love 'em...
Posted by darladoon at 10/11/2006 @ 3:35pm
Lamont won't win in CT, guaranteed.
Posted by urmygyro at 10/11/2006 @ 3:36pm
YIKES...could the "We're Going To Ignore Everybody But Each Other" Club...be breaking up!?!?!?
medea benjamin in particular, however, is deeply hypocritical - she went all out for john kerry, war authorizer, in 2004.
Posted by ZERO 10/11/2006
those are my girls--medea is a righteous babe!
Posted by DARLADOON 10/11/2006 @ 3:18pm
Posted by Mask at 10/11/2006 @ 4:09pm
Posted by URMYGYRO 10/11/2006 @ 3:36pm
The loss of Lamont will be played down. Taking Congress and the drooling over "future impeachment proceedings" will drown any sorrows over "Ned-mentum" flopping or the Governator keeping California.
Posted by Mask at 10/11/2006 @ 4:11pm
I hope KVH and Medea were watching C-SPAN this morning. They had a Democrat babe from Congress(?) screeching that we need a Missile Defense System; the same thing that Ronnie wanted back in the 80's but the libs were against. Now, she's saying that libs didn't oppose this and argued with callers who said otherwise. It was LMAO out loud TV for sure!
Posted by woodyee at 10/11/2006 @ 4:20pm
Posted by FREIHEIT 10/11/2006 @ 4:12pm
DARLA's mental stability IS debatable. But ZERO's "smarts"?
Doesn't take any brains to put any contradictory view on "Ignore" and claim you're "better than EITHER side".
Posted by Mask at 10/11/2006 @ 4:22pm
"Well known peacemakers--including Samuel Jackson, musicians Jackson Browne, and Steve Earle, Angelica Huston, Susan Sarandon, Sandra Oh, Mike Farrell, Ed Asner, Paul Haggis, Julia-Louise Dreyfuss, Cornel West, writers Alice Walker, Maxine Hong Kingston and Gore Vidal, among others"
This has always confused me..well know peace makers...really? What, exactly have they done for peace? They are known for being known and making large dollars..but peace? Drooling over celebs gas always been a flaw with libs.
Hanging pink banners does what for peace, again? Signing petitions does what for peace? maybe getting Iraqis to not kill Iraqis or getting Iranians not to help kill Iraqis or getting Muslims not to kill non-muslims and other "wrong" muslims might be more valueable...if they don't behead those people trying to get them to sit down and sign their petitions...
Posted by john maasch at 10/11/2006 @ 4:34pm
woodyee,
I saw and heard the poor thing...she was ridiculous...I am sure if she comes home to watch herself on the show she will die of embarassment..hell, I was embarassed for her...poor thing.
Posted by john maasch at 10/11/2006 @ 4:36pm
John - Is this new policy from the Democrats (Missile Shield)? This was the first I'd heard. I didn't know if this is a trial balloon ("Let's see if people don't remember our opposition to this in the 80's"). If they're so confident that they'll take the House/Senate/whatever, why would they say this? You know, there's an article in the Washington Post today about the timeline of the Foley scandal and it said, if I remember correctly, that the Dems released the "info" early (supposed to go out 2 weeks before the election) because their polling was showing that they weren't winning, contrary to what they were saying publically. Maybe Foley's not working for them.
Posted by woodyee at 10/11/2006 @ 4:48pm
BTW, haven't checked.....
Have RESE and PLUNGER shown up yet with the "real story" behind the plane that crashed into the apartment building in NY today???
Posted by Mask at 10/11/2006 @ 4:55pm
Peace, Peace!!
C'mon people, seriously. You look for a way to keep the fighting to a minimum, if possible, but PEACE?!
Posted by urmygyro at 10/11/2006 @ 5:11pm
Totally tasteless comment to follow (don't bite my head off)-
The plane was piloted by Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. After getting trounced by the Tigers, and ridiculed on Mike and Mad Dog two days ago, apparently it was all Lidle could take.
Posted by urmygyro at 10/11/2006 @ 5:12pm
Posted by MASK 10/11/2006 @ 4:09pm
LOL - their employment of the "ignore this person" button is seriously sad. I can see it being used to ignore a serial re-poster of non-original material (like libsarenuts, etc)...but to ignore people simply because they point the flaws out in an argument is ridiculous.
Posted by urmygyro at 10/11/2006 @ 5:15pm
"some would say that medea benjamin is one of the figures who helped kill the American anti-war movement, in 2004"
if this weren't the single most laughable, nay abhorrent, claim i've ever read in these pages, then i don't know what is.......
medea is hardly a blip on the screen to the vast majority of non-activists (which is 98-99% of the country), but her physical, and might i add emotional, output is about as instrumental and significant as the combined output of those 99-99%, in terms of political activism.
medea's political opinions are, just that, opinions. and not only do the vast majority of americans not listen to her, they don't even know who she is. therefore, to sort of single out her contribution to the progressive movement as a primary reason for the progressive dilemma (green or democrat) is simply absurd. beyond absurd, it's a total waste of time!
she's her own person, and her contribution to california politics is worthy of a nobel prize (honestly).
how many people here hate dick cheney? i do! well, medea is on his ass like flies on shit. who else has the time and energy to harass our psychopathic "elected" leaders? not me, so i'm DAMN glad that medea does.
and hey, come on, she's adorable, and looks marvelous in pink. being dragged out of the senate chamber, kicking and screaming what the MEDIA is NOW REPORTING, my san francisco friend....
zero, give it a rest dude.
Posted by darladoon at 10/11/2006 @ 5:19pm
"who else has the time and energy to harass our psychopathic "elected" leaders? "
Unemployed useful idiotsw.
Posted by john maasch at 10/11/2006 @ 5:42pm
i suppose, in zero's view, every reasonable progressive is hypocritical for voting kerry in '04. he won't even give us any credit for recognizing the sharp differences between '04 and '00. in the former, it was more than obvious that we wanted bush out, no matter who the democratic candidate was. and even if the democratic candidate wasn't anti-war, at least he or she would expand on the terms of the debate (like kerry did). "the abysmal depths of lesser evil-ism" are far superior to staying home and logically handing our non-votes to the winner (read: right wing).
zero, on the one hand, you lambast members of the democratic party for not being independent enough, and on the other you are unsatisfied with truly independent figures (like medea).
the green party stands no chance of winning any seats in the house or senate. period. neither did they in '04.
Posted by darladoon at 10/11/2006 @ 6:03pm
it is truly amazing how elected democratic representatives abandoned all critical analysis and demonstrated hardly a glimmer of knowledge in terms of the situation in the middle east when sooooo many jumped on the war wagon. fear...the great IQ lowerer (or is that ideology?).
i dont think kerry was wonderful, and i dont think we would be out of there by now were he elected....but jeez, how much worse could it be than it already is now? holy crap!
lies lies lies. ignorance, hubris, hypocrisy, self serving bullshit - not a monopoly of either party, but would it not be nice if we had critical thinking, well educated, courageous leaders? how much worse could it have been with kerry?
Posted by ibbleblibble at 10/11/2006 @ 6:34pm
Posted by URMYGYRO 10/11/2006 @ 5:12pm
perhaps yankee ballplayers should stay away from airplanes - remember thurmond munson?
Posted by ibbleblibble at 10/11/2006 @ 6:37pm
655,000 iraqis dead as a result of war. sounds a bit high to me, but the official propaganda claims only 55,000, which sounds too low to me.
so we get attackes on 9/11, possibly as a result of incompetance on the part of our own government, we lose 3000 or so...so, logically we go after a country that had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack, which results in the deaths of between 55,000 and 655,000, mostly innocents (many innocents in every sense of the word - children and women). gee! great job neocons. who are the bad guys now?
Posted by ibbleblibble at 10/11/2006 @ 6:44pm
Here's to the ignore button, especially for busy, positive-energy people like myself who get life (hint: it's not to accumulate power at the expense of humanitarianism). Wish all websites had 'em.
Posted by ash at 10/11/2006 @ 6:46pm
Hows the web site going?
Posted by RIO BRAVO 10/11/2006 @ 7:47pm
terrible. i am a lazy man who works hard and my work has gotten harder, so my website has languished. got some time off next week, so perhaps i will get onto it.
i dont know, rio...the neocons are bad, and i dont equate them with good old fashioned conservatives.
Posted by ibbleblibble at 10/11/2006 @ 8:05pm
Posted by RIO BRAVO 10/11/2006 @ 7:42pm
hate to be negative and pessimistic, but in light of whats happening now, perhaps a brutal authoritarian dictator was the only way to hold the country together after all. if a brutal authoritarian dictator is the only way to hold a country together, perhaps that country is not a real nation after all and should be divided for the better of all concerned.
not happy happy can-do, but reality is often just so...
Posted by ibbleblibble at 10/11/2006 @ 8:09pm
i did so address your point. right here:
"you lambast members of the democratic party for not being independent enough, and on the other you are unsatisfied with truly independent figures (like medea)."
first of all, nader didn't run on the green party ticket in '04, otherwise medea would have (obviously) supported him, as she is a member of said party. and even if he was on the green party ticket, the goal of almost every progressive in the country was to usurp bush and cheney from office.
that she shifted her position is nothing shocking or hypocritical at all, in light of the fact that.....pretty much everyone shifted their position since '04. the circumstances have changed so greatly (wiretapping, torture, war profiteering), and the democrats have evolved on the issue so reluctantly, that it's given people like medea reason to abandon the them altogether.
and nowhere, in any of my posts, have i characterized medea as an "idol". she has her opinions, and they have nothing to do with me, zero. and besides, the point of the article is ACTIVISM, something you would know very little about living up in seattle.
Posted by darladoon at 10/11/2006 @ 8:39pm
i suppose, in zero's view, every reasonable progressive is hypocritical for voting kerry in '04. he won't even give us any credit for recognizing the sharp differences between '04 and '00. in the former, it was more than obvious that we wanted bush out, no matter who the democratic candidate was. and even if the democratic candidate wasn't anti-war, at least he or she would expand on the terms of the debate (like kerry did). "the abysmal depths of lesser evil-ism" are far superior to staying home and logically handing our non-votes to the winner (read: right wing).
Posted by DARLADOON 10/11/2006 @ 6:03pm
Zero didn't say that, you said it for him, but, in any case, I voted for Kerry in 2004 and I think "hypocritical" would be a fairly accurate description of what I did because Kerry was simply pretty close to a pig in a poke. However, I felt it was necessary at the time and I even severely criticized others who were promoting Nader. I expected the Bush administration to embark on more of their homicidal adventures (which was correct) and hoped that a Kerry/Edwards win would at least rein that in.
The complete inadequacy of this alternative course of action is fully demonstrated by the votes and public statements of a majority of the Democratic Party in their lockstep alignment with the Bush administration on Iran and the slaughter in Lebanon.
The overwhelming majority of the Democratic Party is not worthy of somone's vote and I no longer wish to be even associated with most of them by voting for them.
In the case of Medea Benjamin, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think her position in '04 was vote Kerry in swing states and vote your conscience in non-swing states. Doesn't say much for Kerry, does it?
Posted by fromredbird at 10/11/2006 @ 11:13pm
shall we go back to the very beginning? here is what zero said, which started this entire debate:
"some would say that medea benjamin is one of the figures who helped kill the American anti-war movement, in 2004"
"helped kill" the anti-war movement? completely baseless statement. and you talk about me being in denial of facts? where are the facts to support such a sweeping claim?
can you document how many progressives were influenced by little medea benjamin? can you document how many progressives actually voted for kerry? for nader?
does it even MATTER what medea did 2 years ago? and even if it does matter, how was her decision to attack nader not grounded in some sense of urgency, to usurp bush from power? does it even MATTER what medea's opinions really are, as opposed to a larger group like code pink?
and zero, you have yet to respond to:
1. you lambast members of the democratic party for not being independent enough, and on the other you are unsatisfied with truly independent figures (like medea)
and could you please back up this claim:
2. some would say that medea benjamin is one of the figures who helped kill the American anti-war movement, in 2004
the above simply cannot be substantiated, it is totally overblown.
my defense of medea comes from knowing her....knowing her years of tireless, and mostly unpaid, activism. her dedication to all of the causes that make me wake up in the morning. code pink is an extraordinary group of women. YOU were the who started this silly argument by making claim #1.......a claim which had NOTHING to do with KVH's article.....a claim which is totally irrelevant on the face of it.....a claim which goes against your long-standing view that 'idols' are to be distrusted, parties admonished, etc.....so why so much anger at medea? why focus on one event in '04, and not the larger picture.
i will admit she made a mistake in '04, but so did many of us.
who did YOU vote for, in '04?
Posted by darladoon at 10/11/2006 @ 11:40pm
the war isn't everything, competence is everything.
nader or kerry? it's a no brainer....
Posted by darladoon at 10/11/2006 @ 11:42pm
John Kerry: "There's nothing - nothing - in my life in public service I regret more, nothing even close. We should all be willing to say: I was wrong, I should not have voted for the Iraq War Resolution."
http://tinyurl.com/gbdj4
Hey, he catches on really quick, doesn't he? Maybe the American people should start regretting that they sent to Congress people who aren't willing to do what's right rather than what's expedient. Like Barbara Lee, for example.
A lot of us don't have to say we were wrong because we weren't, genius.
Posted by fromredbird at 10/11/2006 @ 11:42pm
"Like Barbara Lee, for example."
a-ha! and barb lee is a DEMOCRAT. you see the conundrum?
voting for nader works AGAINST barb lee. it's a fucking conundrum.
Posted by darladoon at 10/11/2006 @ 11:44pm
"So as far as your claim of the "right" winning by people voting for a third-party"
uh, no. i said NOT VOTING at all was supporting the right.
and, have i ever said that kerry was an ideal candidate? HE WAS THE ONLY CANDIDATE WHO HAD A CHANCE. does this not make sense to the otherwise intelligent zero?
Posted by darladoon at 10/11/2006 @ 11:46pm
FRB: your statement is essentially accurate (Benjamin in a nutshell: vote Kerry where it might actually impact the election, otherwise vote daffy duck if you feel like it because it won't change anything) but you neglect the amount of campaigning MB did for JK in the "swing states". She made a number of really nasty, wrongful, outright egregious statements about the Nader campaign in front of leftists in these states, in some real low political attacks. She accused him of active and happy collaboration with Republicans of the worst sort, and she made a number of below-the-belt accusations in general intended to defame his character. This magazine, The Nation, was happy to be part of that, and the editor, KVH, was as visible as MB as well in attacking Nader.
Posted by ZERO 10/11/2006 @ 11:20pm
I'm neglecting it only to the extent that I'm not aware of it.
In any case, I don't see any viable opposition in America. The country's a lost cause. I will vote for candidates that I think deserve to be voted for but I don't see it changing anything significant. The impetus has to come from outside which will take about 30 - 40 years.
Posted by fromredbird at 10/11/2006 @ 11:51pm
" I don't see any viable opposition in America."
and that includes nader, someone with absolutely ZERO foreign policy experience.
kerry, on the other hand, plenty of it.
the greens have great ideas, but they can't run the country. they're good in the pacific northwest, but that's about it...
Posted by darladoon at 10/11/2006 @ 11:53pm
"Like Barbara Lee, for example."
a-ha! and barb lee is a DEMOCRAT. you see the conundrum?
voting for nader works AGAINST barb lee. it's a fucking conundrum.
Posted by DARLADOON 10/11/2006 @ 11:44pm
Barbara Lee wasn't running for President in 2004.
Posted by fromredbird at 10/11/2006 @ 11:59pm
" I don't see any viable opposition in America."
and that includes nader, someone with absolutely ZERO foreign policy experience.
kerry, on the other hand, plenty of it.
the greens have great ideas, but they can't run the country. they're good in the pacific northwest, but that's about it...
Posted by DARLADOON 10/11/2006 @ 11:53pm
You're really not making any sense. It's obvious by now that Kerry was not really opposed to the Iraq invasion. He only changed sides when it became evident that it's imperialist objectives could not be achieved and that he might be risking his nomination in 2008.
Posted by fromredbird at 10/12/2006 @ 12:04am
There will come a time when the US political class will not be able to trample all over the rest of the world like Captain Bly because "their" economy will be only one among several in terms of vitality. That process is what will create internal political changes. It will start sooner than 30 - 40 years, assuming that is more of an accurate estimate than just the rough guess that it is now.
There's also no certainty what those changes will be but I doubt that they will be regressive. People do learn.
Posted by fromredbird at 10/12/2006 @ 12:27am
"Barbara Lee wasn't running for President in 2004"
not my point.
"It's obvious by now that Kerry was not really opposed to the Iraq invasion. He only changed sides when it became evident that it's imperialist objectives could not be achieved and that he might be risking his nomination in 2008."
again, not my point.
Posted by darladoon at 10/12/2006 @ 12:39am
Well, my point is that I really had very little faith in Kerry in 2004 and I have Zero faith in him now, so to speak. The same applies to all the others I've seen who are likely to be Democratic Presidential candidates in 2008.
Posted by fromredbird at 10/12/2006 @ 01:50am
.
There exists within the government a parallel military / intelligence service - an entire parallel secret structure which is extra-Constitutional - designed specifically to change the structure of government from a Representative Republic to a Fascist Dictatorship.
The model for this structure was known as "Gladio" in the late 1940s - having fallen under the control of the CIA in 1966.
The premise is to use a few inside operatives to stage massive terror events for the purpose of instilling enough fear in the populace that they willingly trade freedom for security.
THOSE WHO FAIL TO STUDY THE LESSONS OF HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT THEM.
Michael Ledeen has studied the lessons of history - and has applied them to his own agenda.
High Treason
From Wikipedia
"High treason, broadly defined, is an action which is grossly disloyal to one's country or sovereign.
Participating in a war against one's country, attempting to overthrow its government, and attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps the best known examples of high treason."
Two out of three ought to do it.
The Bush Administration attacked America on 9/11 for the express purpose of overthrowing the then-existing form of government. While the Administration dubbed their atttack on US soil "The War ON Terror," it is more aptly named "The War OF Terror," a "war" of their own creation.
H I G H
T R E A S O N
Timewatch: Operation Gladio - Behind False Flag Terrorism & 9/11
Watch the "Gladio" video here:
(part1)
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-4900756773650110959
WATCH ALL THREE PARTS
ALL TERROR IS STATE SPONSORED – ALL OF IT.
They are all laughing at you.
.
Posted by plunger at 10/12/2006 @ 07:50am
.
There exists within the government a parallel military / intelligence service - an entire parallel secret structure which is extra-constitutional - designed specifically to change the structure of government from a Representative Republic to a Fascist Dictatorship.
The model for this structure was known as "Gladio" in the late 1940s - having fallen under the control of the CIA in 1966.
The premise is to use a few inside operatives to stage massive terror events for the purpose of instilling enough fear in the populace that they willingly trade freedom for security.
THOSE WHO FAIL TO STUDY THE LESSONS OF HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT THEM.
Michael Ledeen has studied the lessons of history - and has applied them to his own agenda.
.
T H E
E N E M Y
O F
P E A C E
M I C H A E L
L E D E E N
Ledeen's ideas are repeated daily by such figures as Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. His views virtually define the stark departure from American foreign policy philosophy that existed before the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. He basically believes that violence in the service of the spread of democracy is America's manifest destiny. Consequently, he has become the philosophical legitimator of the American occupation of Iraq.
Now Michael Ledeen is calling for regime change beyond Iraq. In an address entitled "Time to Focus on Iran -- The Mother of Modern Terrorism," for the policy forum of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) on April 30, he declared, "the time for diplomacy is at an end; it is time for a free Iran, free Syria and free Lebanon."
With a group of other conservatives, Ledeen recently set up the Center for Democracy in Iran (CDI), an action group focusing on producing regime change in Iran.
Quotes from Ledeen's works reveal a peculiar set of beliefs about American attitudes toward violence. "Change -- above all violent change -- is the essence of human history," he proclaims in his book, "Machiavelli on Modern Leadership: Why Machiavelli's Iron Rules Are as Timely and Important Today as Five Centuries Ago." In an influential essay in the National Review Online he asserts, "Creative destruction is our middle name. We do it automatically ... it is time once again to export the democratic revolution."
Iraq, Iran and Syria are the first and foremost nations where this should happen, according to Ledeen. The process by which this should be achieved is a violent one, termed "total war," a concept pioneered by the 19th century Prussian general, Karl von Clausewitz in his classic book "On War."
Ledeen's take on this idea is wedded to ideology. In summarizing his book "The War Against the Terror Masters" on the American Enterprise Institute Web site, he writes: "We wage total war because we fight in the name of an idea, and ideas either triumph or fail ... totally." In his reckoning, force is the only reliable strategy to enforce our ideology on our enemies. In the same summary he claims, drawing inspiration from Machiavelli: "We can lead by the force of high moral example ... [but] fear is much more reliable, and lasts longer. Once we show that we are capable of dealing out terrible punishment to our enemies, our power will be far greater."
http://www.alternet.org/story/15860/
A fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, Ledeen holds a Ph.D. in History and Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin. In 1983, on the recommendation of Richard Perle, Ledeen was hired at the Department of Defense as a consultant on terrorism. While being investigated as a security risk by his supervisor, Noel Koch, it was learned from the CIA station that Ledeen had been carried in Agency files as an agent of influence of a foreign government: Israel.
After having his access to classified materials blocked he ceased working there. He next appeared at the National Security Council as a consultant working with NSC head Robert McFarlane. Ledeen was involved in the transfer of arms to Iran during the Iran-Contra affair -- an adventure that he documented in the book "Perilous Statecraft: An Insider's Account of the Iran-Contra Affair." A prominent member of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) board of governors and the Center for Security Policy (CSP), he advocates "total war" inline with the "Grand Strategy for the Middle East" which advocates "Iraq as the tactical pivot, Saudi Arabia as the strategic pivot and Egypt as the prize." Ledeen is presently a serving member on the China Commission and, with the support of DOD Undersecretary for Policy Douglas Feith, he has since 2001 been employed as a consultant for the Office of Special Plans OSP). He is involved in the handling of classified materials and has high-level security clearances. He was also involved in election rigging of the 2000 election.
http://www.nogw.com/warforisrael.html
.
Conflicts and power
From an outstanding interview with Professor Ilan Pappe of Haifa University (my emphasis):
"I think that neo-conservatism is mainly a product of the Cold War, and I think as happened in Israel, so in the US, a lot of people benefit economically, sociologically, politically, from a situation of conflict which begins with the producers of arms, and it ends with the people who have a hold on the decision-making apparatus in the name of national security. And of course this was all lost in a way when the Soviet Union collapsed, and the cold war ended. And I think this group of people were looking for a new bogey man, a new threat to the national security of the US and they found it because of the very strong influence, I think, of Israel among other things, in the Arab world and the Islamic world. Of course, movements such as the Islamic Al-Qaeda did not help. They provided the pretext, and the context for even pushing these ideas even further. And what we have now is the same people, a next generation, who would do all they can to perpetuate the conflict, because they benefit from the conflict. They benefit from situations of wars, of conflicts, and so on, and I think this is what enforces their hold over the American policy making in the world at large, and in the Middle East in particular."
We often wonder why people like Ledeen seem to be so interested in creating conflict for the sake of conflict. One reason is that people who are aware of the timing of a conflict are in a position to make money off it. Another reason is that this constant conflict constitutes the sole reason why these people have any power. They create an escalating series of problems, and then have to remain in power to ‘solve' them. Of course, the solutions continue to lead to more conflicts. We can understand all the the talk about Iran as another example of creating a conflict which gives these characters something to do. While a civil war in Iraq benefits Likudniks in the American government and in Israel, it also benefits a guy like Cheney, whose only interest is in creating more power for Cheney. The United States has fallen into a vicious cycle where the jobs of the neocons and their fellow travelers like Cheney and Rumsfeld are dependent on their cleaning up the messes they have already started. An end to conflict would put them out of power, so we'll never see an end to conflict.
http://xymphora.blogspot.com/
.
Posted by plunger at 10/12/2006 @ 08:18am
zero - i am beginning to get the impression you are a green...
Posted by ibbleblibble at 10/12/2006 @ 08:36am
Bloom off the rose for the "Ignore This Person Romance" Couple I guess...
Posted by ZERO 10/11/2006 @ 11:32pm
Posted by DARLADOON 10/11/2006 @ 11:46pm
Maybe FROMREDBIRD can catch DARLA on the rebound!
Posted by Mask at 10/12/2006 @ 08:46am
"i am beginning to get the impression you are a green.."
what's the point in belonging to a political party? they will never satisfy independent thinkers.
a combination of green (progressive environmentalism) and democratic (progressive taxation and strong public sector) and republican (HONEST fiscal conservativism) would be wonderful.
but no party can live up to its word. that's why i say screw political parties. vote the best candidate for the job, and by "best" i mean the one who will cause the least amount of long term damage.
Posted by darladoon at 10/12/2006 @ 09:14am
Posted by DARLADOON 10/12/2006 @ 09:14am |
thats pretty much what it comes down to. i actually like the green party a lot myself. if i were your next door neigbor i would actively capaign for green candidates most of the time (and never want for natural herbal supplements, from what you say...lol). but here in souf cakalaka, its hard enough to get a dem elected.
i was once quite active in the democratic party, became disillusioned with politics in general, got uninvolved. my current support for the demoncrats (i love that one) is as much a result of cold calculation on my part that the neocon/fundyvangelist dominated modern republican party has become an hypocritical abomination that threatens not only all the honest schmuk has struggled for over the past century or so, but my very fredom to do what i am doing now, to express what i believe, to live without being coercively proselytized by cromwellian religious bigots in political office (or those to whom such politicians pander), and to be free from economic nihilists whose loyalty to self, class, and profit supercedes all other allegiances regardless of what they say.
i actually like some moderate republicans (30 years ago in my state most would have been demoncrats anyway - around here the closest thing to a democrat is a mccain republican these days), but until this obverse democratic fascist lockdown on government is broken, i will just pull the straight dem ticket and continue to carp, bitch, and rip apart such lies and bullshit as is in my capacity to oppose.
when the situation becomes more balanced, i will return to my old habits of voting for a republican i like from time to time. should the dems ever reach the level of arrogant ideological lockstep and irrationality the neocon dominated pubs have displayed for over a decade, who knows? maybe one day i will vote a straight (gulp) pub ticket. locally i have a hard time envisioning such a possibility, but who knows? "may you live in interesting times"...
pragmatism tempered by morality, critical thnking, humility, and a willingness to compromise when total victory is impossible. the way it should be as opposed to the way it is. work for the way it should be...dont get cynical when the world corrupts...
Posted by ibbleblibble at 10/12/2006 @ 09:52am
Posted by RIO BRAVO 10/11/2006 @ 7:45pm
Not only psycho but it appear now also psychic
Posted by leftofcenter at 10/12/2006 @ 10:09am
Bloom off the rose for the "Ignore This Person Romance" Couple I guess...
Posted by ZERO 10/11/2006 @ 11:32pm
Posted by DARLADOON 10/11/2006 @ 11:46pm
Maybe FROMREDBIRD can catch DARLA on the rebound!
Posted by MASK 10/12/2006 @ 08:46am
I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, MASK, but I think a hell of a lot more people than this are ignoring you. Probably a result of your anti-semitism.
Posted by fromredbird at 10/12/2006 @ 11:04am
the fake war on terror continues--the latest bin Laden tape was made by a subsidiary of Paramount in Nevada
A MUST READ!
9/11 is the lynch pin that will awaken all American citizens to the cancer that has taken over our democratic Republic. We fight this fascist regime and their globalist controllers together or we submit to enslavement as we bicker over the wedges that the elites have supplied for us.
All politicians on the national level are compromised. All laws passed by these peacocks of our hallowed halls are to the detriment of the citizen. Rather, they are written for the benefit of corporations and for the further consolidation of the power towards the government and over the people. The judiciary is compromised. Laws being written now violate and indeed countermand the Bill of Rights and the Supreme Court is composed of a majority of neocon rubber-stampers. They will rule for the elites and against the people every time. The mainstream media is owned by 5 corporations who openly support and do business with the military industrial complex. GE owns NBC and makes billions from its weapons systems. NBC, not only refuses to ask questions about the next war, NBC will wave the flag and actively support the next war. NBC will only tell the American citizen what GE and the Federal Reserve cabal of uber-powerful criminal bankers want NBC to tell the American citizen. Even the elections are openly stolen by hackable machines with no paper trail, a gift that the Congress intentionally laced into our dying democracy.
These elitist scum own every bit of our system of life. They own the Justice Department. They own the intelligence services. They own the educational institutions through dependence on grants. They own the churches through manipulation and graft. They own the military. They print the money, own the banks and hold all the notes. They own the political parties. They own the police. They own the tv programming. They own the magazines and the newspapers. They have intentionally been flooding the US with illegal under-paid wage slaves, while at the same time, shipping almost all manufacturing jobs to third world countries. They are Already in the process of forming a North American union. They are building a super highway structure, that will take Chinese goods from Mexican ports (by-passing US longshoreman), throughout the US and into Canada. It will be paid for with tolls charged to Americans. Do you recall voting for this? Do you remember voting to be a part of the North American union?
They started the war in Afghanistan in order to build a gas pipeline and to restart the poppy trade. They started the war in Iraq in order to take Iraqi oil out of the market, to deploy massive weapons systems, to provide billions in no bid rebuilding contracts, to slice the Iraqi state into 3 less significant and easily controlled states, and lastly, to provide permanent military bases. They have been systematically implementing a police state, since well before 9/11, but by leaps and bounds ever since.
Are these people capable of pulling off 9/11? You tell me. The Lucitania was intentionally sailed into harm's way, sunk and the US entered WW1. Recently released documents confirm there was foreknowledge of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The US enters WW 2. US operatives stage terrorism and successfully orchestrate the coup to overthrow the elected leader of Iran and the brutal Shah is imposed. Operation Northwoods, a plan to use terrorism and staged attacks to justify attacking Cuba, is nixed by Kennedy. Kennedy plots a course for his presidency that diverges from the shadow government's plan for protracted war in Viet Nam. Kennedy is erased. Recently released documents and testimony confirm that the Gulf of Tonkin Incident was staged. The US war machine goes into high gear and billions are made and thousands are killed. Recently released documents prove that the USS Liberty was attacked by Israel in order to blame it on Egypt and President Johnson wanted that boat on the bottom of the ocean. Documents clearly implicate the FBI in the WTC bombing in 1993. The Oklahoma City bombing is whitewashed and blamed on the lone gunman, Tim McVeigh. Press reports of ATF statements of additional bombs in the building are erased.
Could these people have pulled off 9/11? Evidence was removed from all 3 crime scenes by agents of the government. Proper investigations of the scenes were not done. Sand covered the Pentagon lawn the very next day. Steel from the WTC was shipped overseas. Surveillance tapes are state secrets now and audio tapes were destroyed. Black boxes were never found. The airplanes were never put back together. There was no FTSB investigations. The two leading journalists investigating 9/11, Michael Rupert and Chris Bolynn, have left the country because of police intimidation. Any public figure who even asks a question, will be ridiculed, threatened and intimidated by the government and the press. The Bin Laden confession video and several other tapes are proven fakes and the FBI does not list Bin Laden as being wanted for 9/11. There were more than 20 fake blips inserted on radar screens on the morning of 9/11. Most of the interceptors of the American air defense system were involved in a drill in Northern Canada and Alaska. There was a drill running the morning of 9/11 that simulated a plane crashing into the WTC. In an attack that lasted an hour and a half, no planes were scrambled in time. The Pentagon is one of the most heavily fortified and defended buildings in the world and yet, they never fired a shot. You tell me. How did these hijackers defeat our entire $500,000,000,000 air defense system? If these hijackers really did succeed in fooling the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, NORAD and the FAA, then why hasn't ANYONE been fired, demoted, court martialed or held accountable? Who really had the means, motive and opportunity to make this false flag plan, a reality?
What has happened since has been a stream of terror alerts, starting with the anthrax attack, which just happened to coincide with the rush passage of the already written Patriot Act. Anthrax was sent to a couple of media sources and US made, weapons grade anthrax was sent to the highest ranking Democrats. The trail went cold or did it? The scientist who was never charged and then, released, claims innocence and no one else was ever charged. When you then learn that the White House staff was started on Cipro one month before, it is cause for thought. The color coded alert system was a proven political tool in order to boost poll numbers. The 7/7 bombings explanation is fraught with lies and whitewash and has MI 5 written all over it. The Madrid bombings were blamed on terrorists and now it turns out it was the Spanish Secret Service. Several plots have been stoked and entrapped by intelligence services here. After the fact, you learn that the terrorists had no means to accomplish the plot and were in effect, patsies. The liquid bomber plot was exposed and acted on because of pressure from the US. There was no way to make the liquid bombs work, there were no bombs and most of the suspects didn't have passports. No matter, each time one of these events is reported, the fear is ratcheted up, 'terror' and 'terrorists' is repeated again and again and more intrusive, Bill of Rights' raping legislation is passed.
Osama Bin Laden worked for and was armed by the CIA. After the Soviets were expelled, he turned his sights on the US troops in Saudi Arabia. He was a nothing with a rag tag group of followers before the US gave his group the name al Qaida. After that he was mentioned constantly so that we were prepared to hear that he was responsible for 9/11. Now al Qaida is a world wide, ever changing, secretive terrorist organization bent on the eternal terror of America. We are being programmed and lied to and this whole thing is a war OF terror against the freedoms of Americans and indeed the citizens of the western world. Please do not make the foolish decision to dismiss me as a conspiracy theorist. Do the research. Check my facts. When the veil of denial falls away, the magnitude of the realization will hit you in the gut. At that point, you must face the mirror and figure out what kind of human being you really are and what in the hell you can do to join the fight.
What's next? The North American Union is already underway and is to be fully functional by 2010. At this point, the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, will be inconsequential. A grid of roads will be tolled. Cameras at each toll as well as biometric passes and transponders in the vehicles will all keep track of our comings and goings. Cameras and microphones placed anywhere and everywhere will surveil the citizenry. Phone calls will be logged, tracked and listened to at any point deemed reasonable by the authorities. Medical records, banking records, purchasing records and all internet traffic will be available to authorities whenever they deem it necessary. If your actions are interpreted as being hostile to the authorities, you can be taken from your home without a warrant, tortured, held without charges and representation or if charged with being an 'enemy combatant', you can be held for the duration of the war. Private property rights will be at the discretion of the authorities. FEMA camps are already being built to house dissenters and anyone the authorities deem necessary. Church leaders have been trained as organizers in the event of a FEMA emergency. They are to encourage compliance and facilitate the confiscation of weapons. There will be nowhere to run. Opportunities will be gone. Freedom of choice will be gone. As many sheeple as are needed, will be used to fight wars for resources. This is America, Goddamn It!
How can we possibly stop this from happening? We have nothing but righteousness on our side. If we stand together and calmly say NO, the tyrants cannot win. They are powerful, but few. We are much more powerful than any tyrant if we are informed and we stand together. If we stand alone, we are doomed.
My fellow patriots and citizens--Please Wake Up Immediately. Break out of the false right/left paradigm and see the government and the reality for what it is and not for what you've been told it is. They have their sights set on bombing Iran and the midterm elections loom. You need not fear Iran or Islamo-fascists, but you damn well better be ready for false flag terror, more war and less rights. Join your fellow patriots in exposing this lie, so that we can go about the business of saving our country from enslavement and police state control at the hands of these elitist scum. We, the people, must take back our country and our destiny!
By: RuneNordsman on October 12, 2006 at 10:40am
Posted by plunger at 10/12/2006 @ 11:16am
I'm signed up. It feels good. Only, I do not want to be construed as pinko or anti-war. It's just that, according to my nature, being smart but of modest physique, I prefer to wage war in "cold" fashion rather than "hot".
Posted by John_A at 10/12/2006 @ 10:29pm